Why it matters
The producer
The Makarounas family had long supplied grapes to other Cypriot wineries before Theodoros returned to Cyprus with an enology degree from UC Davis. His 2016 project kept the family’s fruit in-house, so the grape-growing work and the cellar decisions now meet under the Makarounas label. Wine Anorak describes the operation as Cyprus’s only fully estate-model winery; the result is a range tied to vineyards the family owns rather than purchased fruit.
Makarounas began as a change in what happened after harvest. For four generations the family grew vines, traditionally selling the grapes to larger wineries. In 2016, Theodoros Makarounas returned to Cyprus and started an estate winery instead. The family’s 28 hectares could then be farmed with bottling in mind: Spourtiko could stay on its fine lees in tank, and Mosfiles Maratheftiko could appear as a vineyard-named red rather than disappear into another producer’s blend.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Letymbou lies in the Pafos area, east of the city and in the Troodos foothills. The winery reports vineyard elevations of 400 to 600 metres, where height brings cooler conditions than the coast within a warm Mediterranean climate. That setting helps retain acidity in grapes that ripen under Cypriot sun, a relationship visible in the reported low-pH wines and in the dry, saline profile of Spourtiko.
No formal Cypriot appellation or protected geographical indication has been verified for the wines. The useful place name is therefore Letymbou and the Pafos-area foothills: a vineyard location, not a borrowed hierarchy on the label.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Ungrafted and older vines bring naturally limited, concentrated fruit; indigenous yeasts, stainless steel, amphora and cement provide several ways to handle it without imposing one uniform cellar flavour.
Spourtiko shows the clearest method-to-glass link. The 100% varietal wine is gently pressed, fermented spontaneously in stainless steel and kept on fine lees for about seven months. Stainless steel preserves grapefruit and wet-stone notes, while lees contact adds texture to its lean body; the finish remains bone-dry and salty rather than creamy or oak-led. Across the range, Wine Anorak reports very low pH, around 2.9 to 3.1, which fits the firm acidity heard in the tasting notes.
Wines to know
The range in view
The white range has two distinct native-grape routes. Spourtiko is the taut, dry line: mineral fruit, citrus, saline lift and fine-lees texture. Aerides is 100% Xynisteri and moves toward a broader aromatic register, with stone fruit, mango, pineapple and passion fruit alongside herbs and mineral notes. Both remain white wines built around acidity, but one leans toward grapefruit and almond-skin bitterness while the other opens with tropical and orchard fruit.
The reds turn to Maratheftiko and Yiannoudi. Mosfiles Maratheftiko is a single-vineyard expression with plum, red fruit and spice over a plush but fresh palate. Yiannoudi 2021 brings cherry, almond and raspberry, with good acidity and structural grip. Together, they show native red varieties capable of fruit depth without losing shape: tannin holds the red-fruit flavours in place, while acidity keeps the finish moving.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Choose Spourtiko. It is a 100% Spourtiko white made with gentle pressing, spontaneous stainless-steel fermentation and about seven months on fine lees. The bottle carries the estate’s core choices into one glass: native fruit, a low-pH acidic line, no oak flavour and lees-derived texture. Expect wet stone, grapefruit, mineral fruit and salinity, with a lean body and a vivid, bone-dry finish marked by green-almond bitterness.